Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) on Friday said it has approached both its stakeholder states — Bengal and Jharkhand — to seek their views for a uniform tariff within the power major’s command area spread over the two states.

Currently, each state has its own electricity regulatory commissions responsible for fixing the rate of tariffs for domestic, commercial and industrial consumers within the state. The rates in Bengal and Jharkhand are significantly different (see chart). This has prompted DVC to seek views from the states for a single regulatory commission that would be responsible for fixing tariffs for DVC consumers.

“We went to our ministry and made a presentation, and we were advised to get consent from both states. We have already sought consent from both the states in March this year,” said DVC chairman S. Suresh Kumar.

DVC’s power consumers in Bengal comprising of secondary steel producers, ferro alloys, pig iron, pellet and sponge iron product makers, through three industry associations, have made a public appeal seeking intervention from Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee after the state’s regulatory commission increased average tariff of DVC for 2025-26 at ₹6 per unit, which is higher than ₹5.23 per unit in 2024-25.

“How can we run our plants after paying such large power bills?” questioned Shankar Lal Agarwal, president of West Bengal Iron and Steel Manufacturers’ Association.

In Bengal at least 50 private iron and steel plants out of around 250 those are located in East and West Burdwan Bankura and Purulia consume power from the DVC.

Agarwal said the power tariff for DVC in Bengal has now escalated to Rs 6.80 including the arrears and the additional ECR and MVCA whereas the power tariff for WBSEDCL is around ₹4.30 for its bulk consumers. “We have raised the issue during the hearing at WBERC but nothing was done,” alleged another plant owner in Durgapur.

DVC officials on Friday said that the tariff for 132KV and 33KV (industrial power consumers) in Bengal has remained static for a long time since 2018-19 due to litigation brought in by various industry associations.

DVC chairman Kumar said that the power utility has continued to supply electricity despite a rise in the cost of fuel and manpower. Officials further said that of the past arrears, around ₹2000 crore has already been paid and around ₹600 crore is outstanding.